Van Persie suffers groin injury

Netherlands captain Robin van Persie suffered a groin injury in his country's last World Cup warm-up match on Wednesday as the Netherlands beat Wales 2-0 a day before their departure for Brazil.

Van Persie was taken off at halftime after looking laboured and struggling in the first half of the warm-up game.

But officials told Dutch radio reporters the injury was not serious and that Van Persie should recover in time for the team's opening match at the tournament against world champions Spain next week.

Coach Louis van Gaal said the injury had come as a result of the training Van Persie has been putting in over the last weeks, combined with his return to playing after months on the sidelines at his club Manchester United.

“We took him off as a precaution because this was not an important match,” Van Gaal told Dutch Radio One after the game at the Amsterdam Arena.

“It was important rather to save him for the World Cup.”

The 30-year-old Van Persie returned to play in United's last three Premier League game of the season after two months out with a knee injury.

He took part in all three of the Dutch side's warm-up games against Ecuador, Ghana and Wales and scored against Ghana last Saturday to extend his record number of goals for his country to 43.